user 29674
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Edit: this came out much longer than I intended... Cliff notes are: carboy is about 2* below what my WLP400 wants, should i leave it alone or get a brewbelt and try to position it so it doesnt heat too much and get out of range? Full story below./
So I have my AHBS Blue Moon clone in my 6 gallon better bottle fermenting away. It went in on Monday night. Had some nice tiny bubbles within a few hours, and my morning (racked at almost midnight) had a nice layer of Krausen and good airlock activity.
Two things that have me concerned:
1) I had a brain fart when I pitched, and threw my yeast in at about 85-90*F. Its white labs WLP400. The second I poured it in i thought "WTF ARE YOU DOING! NO!! but it was too late. It says to pitch below 75*F but since I have a pretty good fermentation going, I'm not too worried about this part.
2) My fermometer on my carboy is has both the 64 and 66 boxes "lit" so I assume that means its 65* in the carboy. WLP400 says temp range should be 67-74. Its only 1 or 2 degrees, and I have a decent ferm going on, but I'm worried about it not attenuating fully or the yeasties getting mad and going to sleep.
The carboy is currently in the tub of a spare bathroom sitting on a towel. Last night I rigged up an 80w lamp in the tub next to the carboy, and wrapped two thick towels around the carboy and pinned it with clothespins, and closed the door (its a very small bathroom that is never used - its my kids bathroom but they're 3 and 1) to try and trap in some heat. The temp on the carboy doesnt seem to have changed any.
Moving the carboy to somewhere else isnt an option, as anywhere else it will get messed with by the kids or jostled during normal household activity (not to mention fear of blowoff staining the carpet and getting brewing in the house banned).
I thought about getting a brewbelt from LHBS, but it says it provides a constant 75* and I'm worried that 75 + the 4 or 5* I'll get from fermentation itself will put my wort into the 80s, which is well outside of the 67-74 range for the yeast. I think 2* low is better than 6-7* high, but I don't know.
So here I am. Should I just RDWAHAHB and leave it alone or go get a brewbelt and try to adjust it high enough on the carboy as to warm up the wort but not let it get too high?
So I have my AHBS Blue Moon clone in my 6 gallon better bottle fermenting away. It went in on Monday night. Had some nice tiny bubbles within a few hours, and my morning (racked at almost midnight) had a nice layer of Krausen and good airlock activity.
Two things that have me concerned:
1) I had a brain fart when I pitched, and threw my yeast in at about 85-90*F. Its white labs WLP400. The second I poured it in i thought "WTF ARE YOU DOING! NO!! but it was too late. It says to pitch below 75*F but since I have a pretty good fermentation going, I'm not too worried about this part.
2) My fermometer on my carboy is has both the 64 and 66 boxes "lit" so I assume that means its 65* in the carboy. WLP400 says temp range should be 67-74. Its only 1 or 2 degrees, and I have a decent ferm going on, but I'm worried about it not attenuating fully or the yeasties getting mad and going to sleep.
The carboy is currently in the tub of a spare bathroom sitting on a towel. Last night I rigged up an 80w lamp in the tub next to the carboy, and wrapped two thick towels around the carboy and pinned it with clothespins, and closed the door (its a very small bathroom that is never used - its my kids bathroom but they're 3 and 1) to try and trap in some heat. The temp on the carboy doesnt seem to have changed any.
Moving the carboy to somewhere else isnt an option, as anywhere else it will get messed with by the kids or jostled during normal household activity (not to mention fear of blowoff staining the carpet and getting brewing in the house banned).
I thought about getting a brewbelt from LHBS, but it says it provides a constant 75* and I'm worried that 75 + the 4 or 5* I'll get from fermentation itself will put my wort into the 80s, which is well outside of the 67-74 range for the yeast. I think 2* low is better than 6-7* high, but I don't know.
So here I am. Should I just RDWAHAHB and leave it alone or go get a brewbelt and try to adjust it high enough on the carboy as to warm up the wort but not let it get too high?